Ch 4

Suki

It was noon when Suki opened her eyes and the bright sunlight seemed to burn her very retinas. After rowing for several hours, they had decided to sleep in the boat. She yawned and stretched as well as she could without rocking the tiny craft. The other girls were still asleep and Suki didn't want to wake them. She took her oar and gave a few slow, huge strokes into the water causing the boat to glide along the water. She watched as the oar's ripples broke the smooth glassy surface of the water. She took her eyes off of the water and stared ahead at the vast ocean. She squinted. Was there something in the distance.

"Land!" she murmured. Suddenly, it hit her. She could see land! "Girls, girls wake up!"

"What?" mumbled Sima drowsily.

"Land?" asked Mian.

"Yes, look!" Suki pointed ahead.

"Finally!" exclaimed Lia. "'Cause I am so sea sick!"

"Are you going to, like, puke?" questioned Tashi backing as far away from Lia as she could.

"No, sick of the sea!" Lia answered. The girls all laughed and picked up their paddles to row some more.

Three hours later they reached the shore. The six girls eagerly left the boat to walk again on solid ground.

"Land! Thank goodness!" sighed Tashi lying down on the sandy shore.

"We were only in the boat for twelve hours." Suki pointed out sitting next to her.

"It felt like an eternity!" said Tashi.

"I can't believe how far we are from home." Commented Sima.

"Yeah," added Keya. She was quiet and shy, and hadn't spoken much during the entire journey.

"The furthest I've ever been from home is the far side of the island." Said Mian.

"Yeah," agreed the others. They all sighed together. The sun was beginning to set behind them as they unloaded the boat and set up camp. That night, by the light of the campfire, they sang songs and told ghost stories laughing cheerily, their grins illuminated by the flickering fire-light.

"…and then she left the house to follow the strange light when…THEY GOT HER!" shouted Mian finishing causing the other girls to jump and Tashi to scream loudly.

"Well, that's probably enough for tonight," said Suki when they had all regained their breath from laughing so hard. "I want to start up first thing tomorrow." The girls unrolled their sleeping bags and cleaned off their makeup to get ready to sleep. Before falling asleep, Suki took out the talisman from her dress pocket and held it tightly in her hand. She looked up at the large moon and the starry sky wishing for good luck on her travels, and that Sokka, wherever he was, was having good fortune as well.

"We're going to need more food soon." Announced Mian after they ate a short breakfast.

"There's a village up there on that cliff," suggested Sima, "they probably have food." Suki looked up at the village. Though the other warriors and she didn't know it, the village they were passing was the village of Chin; named for Chin the Great who Avatar Kyoshi killed hundreds of years ago and the villagers still held a mean grudge.

"I don't think going to that village is a good idea." Said Suki. The talisman in her pocket had burned red-hot for a second, sending a jolt up her arms.

"Why not?" asked Lia.

"Um…" Suki faltered for a moment before continuing, "something tells me that it's a bad idea, and that we should wait until we get to the next village." For some reason, Suki felt a little uneasy about telling the others about Kyoshi's talisman. The other girls nodded their heads, a little bit unhappily, but agreeing with Suki's judgment all the same. Suki placed her hand in her pocket and grasped the talisman with her fingers. It was cold now, as if it had never given her that strange warning.

Not long after passing the village of Chin, the girls reached another small fishing village. They purchased some fish and some fruit and ate a small yet filling lunch of salty fish sandwiches before heading off on their way. As they were about to leave the village, they spotted a small girl and boy.

They were both skinny and dirty, as if they hadn't eaten or bathed in many days. Both had matching dejected and hopeless expressions. Suki had never seen anything so sad and pitiable in her life. She walked over to them slowly.

"Here, do you want some fruit?" she asked them. Cautiously, the little girl, who seemed like the older of the two, reached out and took the melon that Suki offered her.

"Thank you," she said, her small voice like a whisper.

"Where are your parents?" Tashi questioned.

"Tashi, that's so rude!" snapped Mian elbowing Tashi who shrugged.

"Our dad is off at war," answered the girl, her voice quivering, "and our mother is sick."

"Maybe we could help her." Suggested Suki. "Could you take us to her?" The girl nodded. The Kyoshi warriors followed her into a small stuffy house.

"Mom, some girls are here to help you!" said the girl to a frail looking woman who was lying on a bed.

"Akoba, Yuxi? Is that you?"

"Yes, mom," said the boy, Yuxi, speaking for the first time, "these girls want to help you." The woman coughed before sitting up in her bed.

"You girls are very kind but I believe that I am beyond any medical help now" said the woman grimly. "But I thank you all very, very much for your kindness." A tear rolled down the woman's cheek. Seeing her mother's sadness, the little girl, Akoba began to sob.

"Don't cry," Said Lia trying to soothe the little girl, "we'll take care of you."

"What if we tried to take her to Ba-Sing-Se?" suggested Keya suddenly. "I bet they have excellent doctors in the Earth Kingdom capital."

"Yeah!" agreed Sima. "That's a great idea. And when we're in Ba-Sing-Se, we can find the Earth troops to help them."

"There is no hope for me," said the woman sadly. "I will not survive the journey."

"We can't give up hope!" exclaimed Suki. "You will get to Ba-Sing-Se and you will be healed and start a great new life there. Now let's pack up your stuff and get a move-on!"

Ten minutes later, the girls managed to construct a sort of stretcher for the sickly woman. They gathered all of Akoba's and Yuxi's clothes and headed on their way. Zima, Akoba and Yuxi's mother had hardly any clothes left. She had to sell them all to be able to try to feed her children.

Lack of food, Suki decided, must have added to Zima's weak state, and that with three full meals a day, she would begin to get better without a doctor. So, for every meal, Suki gave a portion of her ration to Zima in addition to what the woman had already. As for Akoba and Yuxi, having food to eat everyday brightened their spirits as well and showed that Akoba was nearly as talkative as Tashi (a relief for all the Kyoshi Warriors who were starting to get annoyed by Tashi's constant chatter).

Every day, as they walked through forest after forest, village after village, they would take turns carrying Zima's stretcher. Every night they set up camp and allowed the mother and her children to the one tent they had. It was tiring work, often times Suki felt as if she couldn't walk another step but still had a whole day of walking to do. By the time two weeks had gone by, the nighttime campfires were far from what they were that first night, but instead were silent times in which they all fell asleep almost right away. They hiked through mountains and slept in caves. They had to buy a passage across a massive desert. By the time they were on the other side of the desert, Zima could walk on her own for short distances without feeling too weak.

Two weeks later they reached the transportation place for the refugees…

Jet

Alone…all alone, thought Jet. The last time he had been really truly alone was when his family had been killed by the Fire Nation. Well, he still had Longshot and Smellerbee, but still. He had been accustomed to having the entirety of the Freedom Fighters behind him. He clenched his fists angrily. How could they have all betrayed him for that random new-comer Mutiny? Mutiny…he should have known with a name like that that he would be trouble…

"Jet, are you okay?" asked Smellerbee. She looked concerned.

"I'm fine." He grunted in reply.

"Well, I'm hungry, so I'm gonna go look for some leechee nuts." She said. "Come on, Longshot." He couldn't hide his sulk from Smellerbee and Longshot whom he knew so well. He kicked at the dead, fallen leaves sighing angrily. When Longshot and Smellerbee returned several minutes later, he had not moved from the spot.

"Here," said Smellerbee, pouring a couple nuts into Jet's hand, "this is all we could find." Jet took them silently. "What is your problem?" she asked angrily.

"I dunno." He mumbled in response.

"What happened to the Jet I used to know? The one who used to plan things! Who used to be so charismatic and brave!"

"I don't know!" he repeated. "You tell me now: where are we going to go?"

"Ba-Sing-Se!" she exclaimed, tears coming to her eyes. "Your original plan! Are we just gonna give it now just because we don't have the other Freedom Fighters?" Jet did not know how to respond. He had known Smellerbee for a long time and he didn't think that he had ever seen her cry. Longshot nodded solemnly in agreement. Jet took a deep breath.

"Okay, Ba-Sing-Se. That's where we'll go, happy? We'll create a new and better life for ourselves." Smellerbee wiped the tears off of her face and smiled as she ate her leechee nuts.

Jet knew the forest and the surrounding region like the back of his hand. Within no time, they were out of the forest and onto a pathway. They walked in silence. The trail was deserted. That night they camped out, all sitting dismally around the small fire they had built.

"To our new life," said Jet, speaking for the first time in hours. Smellerbee and Longshot smiled grimly in response. They had nothing to eat, so around the flickering firelight they laid to down to sleep. It took a long time for Jet to start to relax. As he felt himself drifting off, he saw a figure in the dark that seemed to be coming towards him.

He was instantly awake. He squinted into the dark trying to tell whether the person was a friend or an enemy. The figure got closer and Jet could see his face in the fading firelight. He didn't look dangerous, but instead, a traveler much like himself. The man turned his back to Jet to look around at the others. Jet stood up as quietly as he could.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" he asked causing the man to jump in surprise.

"I'm so sorry! I was just passing through. Are you refugees too?" the man asked quickly.

"Um, yes I guess." Answered Jet.

"What's going on?" mumbled Smellerbee waking up.

"Well, I'm heading to Ba-Sing-Se, to get away from the war with the Fire Nation." Explained the man.

"So are we." Said Smellerbee sitting up excitedly.

"We could all travel together!" exclaimed the man eagerly. "Or at least until we get to the boats…"

"There are boats to get to Ba-Sing-Se?" asked Jet.

"Yes, huge ships taking all the refugees!" said the man. "I have a map of how to find them."

"That's good." Replied Jet. "I'm Jet, what's your name?"

"Tong-kou." Said Tong-kou and with that he laid down by the fire and fell asleep. Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot, who had awoken, all exchanged puzzled looks before going back to sleep too.

Tong-kou, as they learned as they traveled the next day, had lost his only son fighting against Fire Nation soldiers in his village. Tong-kou had been wandering around the Earth Kingdom since, and he had just be given directions as to how to get to Ba-Sing-Se. Jet didn't want to tell him much about their past other than the fact that he had done some things that he regretted. Jet was glad to have someone telling them where to go because much past his forest, he had no idea where Ba-Sing-Se really was and Tong-kou seemed to know exactly where he was headed.

In return for Tong-kou sense of direction, Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot provided protection and food. Living wild in the forest had given them a good sense of edible plants and nuts. Also, there were many gangs who liked to attack innocent travelers, but Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot could fight them off easily. Tong-kou had a very positive attitude and Jet suspected that had their new friend not joined them, they probably would have ended up going separate ways.

As they grew closer to the refugee transport place, they were joined by more refugees on the crowded roads. Though the people came from many different places they all had one thing in mind. Everyone, Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot included, believed that Ba-Sing-Se would bring for them a great new life. Finally, after two weeks of traveling they saw it. A huge building where the crowds all converged, eager to start their new and better lives.

And now a word from the author...

I finally managed to piece togeher the scattered patches of free times I've had since school started! So sorry for the wait but high school is A LOT of work. Anyway, about the outcome of the story, I was originally planning to write about eight chapters, probably less, but I was recently looking at the spoiler reviews for "The Awakening" and in the pictures there were some pictures...that well, are probably going to pretty much tear up certain parts of my story, I mean, you'd have to look at the pictures to really understand. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who doesn't want it spoiled! So, read, review, comment etc. whether I should continue writing...you can find the link to the spoiler on (under the news from Animation Insider). Thanks again for reading!!!!!!! --M.